Never let anyone say Gov. Jindal isn’t green; no one is better at recycling old politicians into cushy retirement positions

He must have the welfare of the environment uppermost in his mind. He is all about recycling. The man was born to recycle. Just examine this list:

He recycled defeated State Rep. Jane Smith to Deputy Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Revenue at $107,500.

He recycled former State Rep. Kay Katz to the Louisiana Tax Commission ($56,000).

He recycled former St. Tammany Parish President and defeated lieutenant governor candidate Kevin Davis to Director of the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness ($165,000).

He recycled former Slidell police chief and mayor Ben Morris into a position at GOHSEP (unknown salary).

He recycled former House members Rickey Hardy, Tank Powell and Mert Smiley and former Grant Parish Sheriff Leonard Hataway to the State Pardon Board ($36,000 each).

He recycled former State Rep. Noble Ellington to Deputy Commissioner of Insurance ($150,000).

He recycled defeated St. Barnard Parish President Craig Taffaro as the new Director of Hazard Mitigation and Recovery ($150,000).

He recycled term-limited State Rep. Troy Hebert as Director of the Alcohol and Tobacco Control Board ($107,000).

He recycled former State Sen. Nick Gautreaux to Commissioner of the Office of Motor Vehicles (no salary available, but it doesn’t matter; he was forced out after a few months).

He has recycled former executive counselors Tim Barfield and Jimmy Fairchild more times than we can count and Commissioner of Administration Kristy Nichols has been recycled a few times in her own right.

He recycled former State Rep. Lane Carson to Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Veterans Affairs ($130,000).

And now that Carson is retiring after four years on the job, we get word that Jindal is recycling Congressman Rodney Alexander to fill Carson’s post.

No sooner did Alexander announce on Wednesday that he was retiring from Congress because of his stated dissatisfaction with partisan gridlock than Jindal made the offer.

Major League Baseball’s managerial revolving door has nothing on Jindal when it comes to running the same tired old names through the system, allowing them to fatten their retirements even as Jindal is laying off state employees who need their jobs—and who actually perform work as opposed to these appointees who only occupy a desk and suck on the public teat.

It just seems to us that there are others out there who are equally—or more—qualified for these positions and it gets more disgusting with each appointment of the same fat cats to these six-figure jobs.

Of course, we know the underlying reason for recycling all these washed-up legislators: it’s to bump up their retirement benefits—at the expense of you, the taxpayer.

You see, legislators don’t really make that much in outright salary, so their retirement benefits aren’t that much—unless they can secure a six-figure job and remain in it for three years. Retirement is computed at 2.5 percent of one’s highest three years of average earnings times the number of years of service. Thus, 2.5 percent of $130,000 is considerably more than 2.5 percent of $16,000 or so.

Now with Alexander, it’s different: he already has a federal pension from his tenure as a congressman. But now, even though he cashed in his legislative retirement from his days in the legislature, he can buy all that time back and draw a state pension based on his $130,000 salary for the final three years of Jindal’s administration.

Nice gig if you happen to have the stroke to get it and of course there’s nothing like being governor and having the power to screw the taxpayers while running around preaching fiscal responsibility and laying off state workers.

Granted, we are a bit jaded and cynical from covering this administration, but if someone can convince me that fix wasn’t already in on this retirement/appointment, we’re willing to listen.

We can’t help but wonder what Alexander’s duties will entail, duties that someone else was not qualified to perform—especially since Jindal already gave out all those veterans’ medals before his 2011 re-election.

Thanks, Bobby and thanks, Rodney, for all that “good, ethical government.”

Don’t believe for one minute that Jindal wasn’t behind that move. While it may have been Jim Donelon who made the announcement and signed the paperwork, that was a Jindal appointment, pure and simple.

It’s like Jindal didn’t have anything to do with the LSU board’s firing of Lombardi (wink-wink) or like he didn’t push Ann Williamson or Cynthia Bridges or any of the LSU doctors out the door. He denies any part of firing doctors or department heads or demoting legislators from their committee assignments, but his hand prints are all over every personnel move in this state.

And if you don’t believe that, I have some beautiful lakeside property near Bayou Corne in Assumption Parish I can sell you.

I totally share your disgust with the sorry state of affairs that Jindal has sunk this state in. I’ve lived almost my entire life and can never remember such a deceitful and corrupt administration. Speaking out is like screaming in a vacuum and Louisiana (Jindal) has again unequivocally shown us to be the most incompetent state in our fine union. I love this state, even what’s left of it, but am now seriously considering moving elsewhere where some semblance of sanity exists. Who knows what will be left by the time Hurricane Bobby is done. We only thought that Katrina was the result of the worst man made disaster we’ve faced. But from it’s bowels Jindal emerged.

Sorry for the typos. Meant to say I’ve lived almost my entire life here and that Katrina resulted in the worst man made disaster. My blood just boils whenever Jindal twists the blade a little more. How about this: he declares a state of emergency in under a week for a train derailment but sits on his hands for months hoping the Bayou Corne sinkhole will fill itself back in.

And now we have absolute proof why the only people who have the power to put a stop to the worst corruption in a corrupt state’s history won’t stand up to the dictator and do it. Job security for the undeserving.

I’ve said it before and I’m saying it again. This corrupt administration makes Edwin W. Edwards and his administration a candidate for sainthood. We need a Democrat for Governor in the form of Rep. John Bel Edwards to straighten out the mess that Piyush created.

Anyone elected as governor to this sorry state of affairs will never be able to undo the harm Jindal has done to this State. It will take years or decades to right the wrong that has been done by him. He has ripped this State apart from north to south and east to west and the worst part is he’s proud of what he has destroyed. He will have to leave Louisiana after his time is up in the mansion, but guess what, he has no home or place to go except to leave Louisiana completely. So he will never suffer as we see those less fortunate suffer; i.e., old, young, sick, cripple, mentally and physically disabled, and the list goes on and on. He has driven out health care providers, state workers, college graduates, and he has given them a reason to leave and maybe never return. We will be stuck with a deficit that only decades will heal. If one wants to destroy a state, they should take lessons from Jindal, he knows how to destroy everything he touches. He has done it from the inside out!!!

And don’t forget that former Speaker Joe Salter was recycled to the LDOE and now to the Sec. Of State office. And there was another Legislator who resigned before his time was up (used to be a heavy dissenter) and was given a cushy job (over $100k) at the LDOE in the early stages of Jindal. Can’t remember his name. He was put in charge of the Regional service centers before they phased those out. He was mighty upset when Pastorek didn’t keep him on at the Dept. must have been just shy of his 3 yrs needed for his retirement FAC.

The state retirement system is a case study in Jindal’s “Ostrich” approach to financial challenges. Jindal believes in ignoring the UAL, unfunded accrued liability, of $18.50 billion dollars as of 2011 and it may just go away, ie, disappear. It is ironic that when budgeting time comes around, one never, ever hears Jindal or any of his administration leaders, the Jindanistas, mentioning or appropriating any money for the UAL. Since being elected governor, 2008, the state has contributed absolutely nothing to the UAL. Even if the state were to adopt a “new” retirement system, these monies would still UAL would still be due.

[…] as Secretary of Veterans Affairs came far before this week’s announcement.Telegraphing this move made it clear that stocking the shelves of the JIndal admin with washed up pols is a-ok in Bobb…. Hackery be […]

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